Where’s the Chicken? How KFC Might Run out of Chicken

It’s late in the evening. With your stomach rumbling, you stop into the nearest KFC to get your chicken fix. You scan the menu, looking for the perfect crispy, crunchy bite that’ll satisfy your craving. You place your order and wah-wah. The restaurant is out of breast pieces. How can this be? KFC sells chicken. How can KFC run out of chicken?

With farm-fresh chicken this good, it’s hard to keep it in stock. So KFC ensures it doesn’t run out of chicken by scheduling deliveries of fresh chicken to each restaurant two to three times per week. Each piece is hand-breaded by a real person, in house—not in a factory miles away. Chicken is cooked in the Colonel’s patented pressure fryer and served up hot and juicy. This time-intensive process creates the best taste, perfect temperature, and absolute highest quality.

But once in a while, unexpected demand (such as a large same-day catering order) might result in chicken not being immediately available when you walk up to the counter. We take it as a compliment when our customers want this much chicken served up, although it could result in a temporary lack of product for other guests. As much as we hate the idea of delaying any customer’s experience of finger lickin’ goodness, it’s worth it to provide exceptional quality and freshness as we hand-prepare more.

And even though customer ordering patterns can be unpredictable, it would be rare for KFC to run out of chicken. Farm-fresh chicken is delivered multiple times a week to all KFC locations, and KFC cooks conduct product checks throughout the day to ensure there’s enough on hand. Using guest feedback surveys, each restaurant measures availability, with restaurant operators being accountable for the results. Weeks before you place your order, a computerized supply management system is already calculating how to keep a stream of fresh and crispy fried chicken flowing as smoothly as the Ohio River.

So if KFC runs out of chicken, it’s because our chicken is fresh and made to order. But with our high degree of oversight and care, KFC being short on freshly prepared chicken is about as rare as mashed potatoes without gravy.